1 Month Come & Gone & 5 Years of Love

I can't believe Carrigan is 1 month old today. She went for her check-up and all is well. Her weight is now 9 lbs 10 ounces & she's 21.75 inches long. In the dr's words "she's perfect" and told me to keep doing what I've been doing. Brady gained 11 ounces the first month of life & she's gained 18 ounces, so I'm hoping that means I have a better milk supply this time. Rocky & I are so happy that she's doing well. What more could we ask for? The pics of her are from the last week and the last two are of her today. I think in the one of her & me she's thinking- quit taking my picture mom! Brady is also doing great. We're hoping his interest in going potty will pick up soon, and he really enjoyed wearing his big-boy undies for an hour last night. He was going potty fairly consistently right before Carrigan was born, but has regressed which is to be expected. He continues to try a few times a day at school, and we ask him often at home about going. He seems excited to wear undies, and he'll tell us that he's already gone potty, but we want him to tell us before he goes and then the undies are all his! The pictures of him below are from Memorial Day. Rocky had bought him a slip-n-slide pool. Brady wasn't so sure about it at first. He'd slide down & hop out but after a few minutes he was very excited about it. I'm sure we'll get alot of use out of it this summer & I'm pretty sure it will be worth more fun that the wopping $25 it cost.
We're planning on going to visit my parents in High Point this weekend as they'll be returning from Jamaica tomorrow. Auntie Shaunda, Uncle Bobby & Tanner will also get to meet Carrigan for the first time. Brady will likely get some pool time & I'm looking forward to seeing the family and enjoying what is sure to be a tasty meal of some sort. I'll have some pics to share next week.

Last for certainly not least- Rocky & I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary last Friday. Wow! I cannot believe half a decade has gone by since we said "I do." We spent most of the day in Fayetteville where we went to pick up my new car. I am now the happy owner of a 2011 Toyota Camry. We got an awesome deal on it making the trip to Fayetteville worth it. Carrigan was a trooper and was agreeable most of the 6.5 hour it took to go there, get the car, and come back. Brady's been asking where mommy's other car is & I explain to him that we got a new car to give us more room. I couldn't get the stroller in & out of the Saturn, and I could barely fit my hand behind Carrigan's carseat making it very difficult to get the seat out. While it's not so fun to have a second car payment, we managed to put about half down on the Camry & Rocky has since re-financed the Highlander to over 1% interest rate lower. Nice one hunny! Now if I could only get a raise at work so I could bring home more than $100 after paying for daycare. I won't hold my breath.

Time Flies

Wow- time flies when you've got a newborn in the house. I can't believe Carrigan will be a month old next week. She's doing great so far. She's slow to gain weight, but Brady was exactly the same way & he's turned out to be quite the sturdy 2 year old so I'm not so worried. At her 1 week visit on 5/11 she weighed 7 lbs 14 ounces which was only 1 ounce gained from 4 days prior. However, right before her weigh in while I was stripped her down to her birthday suit she had quite the poopy. As I was taking her diaper off, I heard some tuties going on so I held off for a second until it sounded like she was done. However, once I'd removed the diaper, she proceeded to commence pooping which shot all over my right arm, up her leg, on her arm, and all over the exam table. Whew! I can't tell you the last time I laughed that hard. Rocky & my mom were there and got a good chuckle out of it too. So realistically, she may have peed & pooped out 3 ounces so her 4 day weight gain wasn't so bad. They still suggested I bring her back 3 days later for another weight check. The NP we saw that day is also a lactation consultant. She said it may be possible that Carrigan wasn't emptying my boobies enough so I could pump after a feed to see if she's leaving too much. I could also try pumping before a feed to remove some foremilk (watery milk for hydration) forcing Carrigan to get to the hindmilk (fattening milk) before she quits her feed, and this hindmilk will help her gain weight. I pumped after a feed later that day, and there was only .25 ounces total left so I think she usually empties them pretty well. What I do now is after a midday feed, I wait 2 hours and pump for about 10 minutes. This gives about another hour before her next feed and has allowed me to freeze milk for her to have once I go back to work to supplement what I pump at work if need be. Friday 5/14 she weighed 8 lbs even so she had gained 2 ounces in 3 days. The nurse practioner recommened another follow-up in 1 week, but I decided just to monitor her weight at home using our scale. She goes back for her 1 month check-up on June 3rd, so we''ll see what her official weight is then. Brady only gained 11 ounces the first month, and the pediatrician wasn't concerned and didn't suggest supplementing with formula so I'm thinking all will be well even if she's just over 9 lbs.
As far as nursing goes, she's definitely alot more laid back than Brady. He would nurse vigorously for about 45 minutes total every time he nursed at this age. Other than her first 2 feedings of the day which are more spaced out, she pretty much wants to only nurse about 5-10 minutes on each side before dosing off. I have to really keep her agitated to make sure she doesn't fall asleep before atleast 15 minutes on the first side. The longer she nurses the more hindmilk she gets which was another thing the NP/LC suggested. Her first 2 feedings of the day I try to get her to nurse 20 minutes per side. The other feedings of the day (about 5 more feedings most days), I try to get her to do atleast 15 minutes on the first side and atleast 10 minutes on the second side but of course she can nurse longer if she likes.
I think overall, Brady has always been a great sleeper. As a newborn, he just wouldn't nap well during the day. Once we were up for the day, we were up. Carrigan has managed to sleep better than him at this age so I'm much better rested as well. For example- her routine is roughly asleep at 10:30, up to nurse at 3:30, back to sleep from 4:30-8:00, nurse & back to sleep by 9:00, and asleep again until 11-12. Crazy I know! I get 8.5-10 hours of sleep each night in about 3 chunks which has been awesome. During the day, I try to make sure she doesn't sleep too much but I also don't want her to get overtired by not napping. I've been keeping a sleep log which helps me know if she's slept too much early in the day so I can try to keep her up more in the afternoon. She's usually up about 10 hours a day which apparently is still more than the average 6-8 hours I've read that most newborns are awake. She's not a fussy baby so I'm thinking she's sleeping as much as she needs. Who knows if she'll continue to be as good of a sleeper as Brady (he was sleeping 10-5 by 7 weeks), but I'm definitely feeling pretty well rested so I can't complain.
Brady continues to excel as being a big brother. He wants to touch her & kiss her and talk to her alot. The first time I brought Carrigan to his school, naturally the other children were curious. They approached her car seat and Brady had alot to say about that "No touching. She's my baby sister. You can't have her!" Wow! Protective big brother for sure. We talked about sharing and how they are interested in babies. 2 kids in his class have siblings on the way, so we talked about how they're excited to learn about babies to get ready for them. I feel that overall he's adjusted pretty well. I've taken him & Carrigan to Chick-fila the past 2 Tuesdays which was part of our routine while I was pregnant. I've also taken them both to Barnes & Noble a few times which Brady really enjoys. Rocky gets Brady ready for school on his own since I'm usually sleeping or feeding Carrigan, and he also takes care of him on the weekend mornings while I sleep. Bathtime for Brady is usually left to Rocky as well since I'm generally feeding baby girl then. Overall, I think Brady is doing great, and I can't wait to see them be able to play together once she gets older.

Here are some pics from the past few weeks. She's been able to meet Rocky's dad and stepmom and a few of my friends as well. I also included a picture of her first bath at home along with some cute pics of her & Brady. You can see how much he loves her & it was so sweet to see him "reading to her".

And then there were 4!

So the evening of May 2nd after writing the last blog entry, I went into labor! Brady had predicted that baby sister would come on "2 May", so he was right in that she started coming on May 2. It started around 6:15 p.m. while we were having a family dinner at Carrabbas. Contractions were 10 minutes apart on average so around 8:15 I called my parents and they thought they should come that night. Contractions slowed from 10ish until 12 a.m. when I laid down to get some rest. They then went from 7 minutes apart to 4 minutes apart. Around 1:15 we headed to the hospital (I delivered Brady & baby girl at Durham Regional) since they'd been 4 minutes apart for an hour. I went upstairs and kissed Brady before leaving & absolutely lost it. Being in labor made me think back to giving birth to him & how much he's changed since then and here I was about to do it all over again. We got checked into our room around 1:45 with contractions still around 4 minutes apart. The evening got really interesting around 2:45 a.m. Monday morning. I was laboring in a rocking chair & had a very intense contraction followed by a strange pressure sensation. Rocky & I heard a loud POP! and my water broke. When I say it broke, IT BROKE! It took 2 large towels to sop it up & I need a new gown and to be dried off. Usually the water breaking causes labor to quicken, but for some reason, my contractions slowed to around 10 minutes apart, although they were very intense. At 3:45 I was checked and found to be 4-5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Also, there was a bit of meconium in the amniotic fluid, but not enough that they were worried. A pediatric team would be on board to assess her right after birth. I was checked again around 8:45 and had not progressed at all. What the heck! Contractions were very painful but not doing anything. I was told to go for an hour walk. I walked for about 45 minutes, but between the lack of sleep, being soooo hungry, and the pain, I was getting dizzy and feeling like I was going to pass out. I was checked again and found to have made no more progress. At this point, my parents were there with us. I was emotional & feeling like I didn't know what to do. Babies need to arrive within 24 hours of water breaking so I didn't want to stay 4-5 cm all day long. I had originally wanted a natural, drug-free childbirth, but with the reality of pitocin right around the corner, I knew that probably needed to change. I was nauseous with contractions & feeling quite discouraged. I was told I could try walking some more get an enema to stimulate labor, try nipple stimulation, or get some pitocin. None of those ideas sounded appealing. I had already tried walking & it hadn't worked and I was afraid of passing out. The enema sounded the least appealing for obvious reasons. Around 10:15ish I told my nurse I wanted some pitiocin, but only after I received an epidural. She hung the bags of IV fluids & by 11:15 I had my epidural. Can I just say that anethesiologists are some of God's angels on earth? Hehe! The placement of my epidural hurt because I felt the pressure in my spine & I also had 4 contractions while sitting there like a pretzel. However, the epidural provided almost instant relief. By 2:15 p.m.- I had gone from 4-5 cm dilated to 10 cm dilated- not bad for 3 hours worth of labor. I started pushing right after 3 p.m. and Carrigan Lin Davis was born at 3:23 pm. ONLY 20 MINUTES OF PUSHING! What a change from the 3.5 hours of pushing with Brady.

So here are the stats:
8 lbs 7.5 oz & 19.75 inches long
Brown hair & blue eyes (atleast for now)

Looks alot like Brady did when he was born

No ill effects from the meconium- Praise God!

After being all cleaned up, I got some food (best boxed lunch ever) and was moved into my post partum room around 5:30ish. My parents brought Brady to visit and he finally got to meet his baby sister around 7:45. Wow was he smitten. He was quite sad to leave that night without her & we decided it'd be for the best to not have him come visit again between being sad to leave her & mommy and also because the room was so small (i.e.- stir crazy 2 year old) with lots of buttons to press & things to get into.

I was raveneously hungry after having her & ate alot of hospital food & food brought to me by Rocky during my 2 night stay. The process of recovery seemed to be going much easier this time. My only complication is the whole "not being able to pee predicament" that I experienced with Brady. If the bladder becomes too full, it causes the uterus to not be able to clamp down which can cause a serious hemorrhage. I let them know that I needed to be cathed & preferred a foley since I didn't want to be straight cathed every few hours & they agreed. When they cathed me at 8:45 p.m., I instantly filled up 2 liters of pee! What relief! No wonder I'd been so uncomfortable before that. They took the catheter out Tuesday & I showered and tried to go many times to no avail. It was replaced & taken out again on Wednesday. After having it out about 2 hours, I was able to pee. I have never been so excited to pee in my life. The nurse said there was no need for a bladder scan to check the volume, but I told her it'd be fine to do one especially since she'd mentioned some nursing students who wanted to learn. Bad news- bladder had 850 ml & it's ideal to only have 350 ml. A few hours later they checked again & it had risen to 999 ml! What the heck! I'd been peeing up a storm. My nurse got my Ob on the phone on her drive home who agreed to let me go home under the conditions that I try to go every 1-2 hours. I asked to take one of those fancy pee hats home so I could measure and get a visual idea if it was getting better or worse. As of today, things are going fine in that arena, so I'm glad I chose not to come home with a foley. (I apologize for using the word "pee" so many times there!)

It took us until Wednesday to officially decide on her name. We spent alot of labor discussing it. She just didn't look like a Charlotte or Gretchen. After she was born, Rocky said "She's such an exquisite little thing. She needs a really special name." We had already decided on Lin as a shortened version of Linda, Rocky's mom who passed away almost 7 years ago. It felt good to finally fill out the birth certificate paperwork with her name. I cried once it was official.

She has a bit of jaundice, but nothing they wanted us to do anything about. As far as breastfeeding went, in the hospital, she didn't even want to nurse every 3 hours even though the nurse brings the breastfed baby to the mom every 3 hours at a minmum. Tuesday during the night I finally told them to wait to bring her to me when she woke up or around 4 hours. So I got to sleep from 4-7:45 am. It was awesome. I hadn't slept much Monday night. My room was right across from the nursing station & at one point I had to call my nurse in to have her tell them to quiet down. Tuesday night went much better since Rocky brought up my fan & it drowned out all the noise. She now eats about every 3 hours, but has periods of cluster feeding as well.

We got to come home Wednesday around 7:30, and it was so nice to bring baby girl home at last. The first night home went well with her being up from 1:30-2:30 and 4:45-5:30. However, Thursday night she was up from 2-5:30 a.m. and last night she was up from 12-4 a.m. Whew! She'll fall asleep after nursing but will wake up either right after I put her in her Moses basket or within a few minutes. Luckily, I'm taking atleast 1 2 hour nap during the day while she sleeps so it hasn't gotten too bad yet. Last night I went to bed at 9:45 when she did, so the 2 hours of sleep before the 4 hours of being awake felt really good. As far as diapers go, she is not a fan of being changed. I think it's the whole being cold thing that she doesn't like but I'm just happy she's peeing & pooping enough. That's always a good sign. My milk has come in much better than with Brady & I tend to leak after 3 hours if she's not up yet. I'm happy about this & hope it's a sign that pumping will be more productive than last time.

And now, what everyone really wants. Pictures! Of course we think she's beautiful & we feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy girl.

Patiently Waiting

So it's the day before my due date with baby girl. Still pregnant as you can tell my the post title and the fact that this post isn't about her birthdate, size, name... I still feel pretty good, but I'm excited to get this show on the road. I've had contractions randomly for days now. I had an hour this morning where they were 10 minutes apart and now I'll have them about once an hour or so, but I'm not calling my doctor until they're 5 minutes apart for atleast an hour. The plan is to also call my parents at this point so they can come and stay with Brady. I had a strange dream Friday night where my parents were here, but we all left and went to the hospital, and right before I started pushing I realized Brady was at home alone. They got home & he had just woken up and wanted to know where everyone was. I think this is my subconscious fear about Brady feeling somewhat neglected when I have the baby. I know he'll be shown plenty of love my Rocky, me and our extended family and friends, but I still wonder how he'll feel not being the only center of our attention anymore. The dream was also wierd because all of Shaunda's family (aunts, uncles, cousins) were in the room while I was in labor. I have no idea what this part of the dream meant. The last part of the dream that was bizarre is that she only weighed 7 lbs even which I think is pretty much impossible at this point. Hmm... As far as progress goes, at my 39 week appointment last Monday I had gone from 1 cm to 2 cm dilated and from 25% to 70% effaced. I have my 40 week appointment tomorrow morning if I'm still pregnant, so maybe I'll have made further progress. I know that it's not really an indication of when I'll go into labor, but any free dilation is fine by me! Brady has been saying for months that baby sister will come on 2 May, even before I told him I was due in May, so I've been hoping he'd be right. That'd be really special that he knew when his baby sister was going to be born. Rocky had been saying April 29th for months & my mom had a dream that she was coming on April 30th, so Brady's guess is the next one that could come to fruition. While I don't think she'll be 8 days late like Brady, that would still only be 9 days from now. We're very close! I will definitely post when she arrives. In the meantime, my last official day of work was Friday. I could go in this week if she's not here, but with all of the random contractions and feeling more tired each day, I will probably take this time to just relax since it will be quite some time before napping & relaxation are introduced back into my life. This past week went by really quickly & this weekend is going by pretty quickly too. I was nice & busy at work and also met up with Rocky twice for lunch & with Nicky as well. This weekend, Rocky got up with him both mornings (6:45 yesterday and 6:15 today- YIKES!) so I could sleep in, and I took Brady to B&N and McDonald's yesterday before naptime, and then we all had dinner & went to the park after dinner last night. Who knows what today will hold. I'm not really in a "put on makeup and leave the house" kind of mood, but maybe after Brady's nap & mommy's nap I'll feel more up to it.

Tick tick tick!

I feel like I"m a ticking timebomb waiting to go off. At 38 weeks 6 days, I could be holding baby girl in my arms today or up to 3 weeks from now (let's hope it's not that long). I am still way less comfortable than I was at this point with Brady who insisted in sitting on all kinds of nerves to cause sciatica & pelvic pressure. The one uncomfortable thing I notice this time that I didn't have before is random contractions. I'll have a few an hour & then it stops and then I get some more in a few hours or not again until the next day. It's been like that on & off for over a week now. At my visit last Monday I was still only dilated 1 cm but had gone from 25% to 50% effaced. I have my 39 week visit tomorrow & am hoping I've made a little more progress. I know that progress doesn't mean she'll pop out that day, but for some reason, progress seems encouraging. The pics below were taken at 38 weeks 3 days (complete with new stretch marks and all. It's funny- Brady gave me the ones below my belly button and baby girl has given me the ones above my belly button. Territorial siblings already? Hehe!). While I don't think she'll be as big as Brady as 9 lbs 1 oz, I do think she'll be atleast 8 lbs. Finding out her weight & length are just some of the wonderful surprises awaiting us. Hair color, eye color, facial features, and oh yeah- her birth day are some other things I can't wait to find out. Brady is still quite excieted to begin his role as big brother. He was kissing my belly today and shook his finger telling baby sister "You not gonna watch Harry Potter". When I asked him why not, he said "Cause it's too scary." Perhaps he's already practicing being protective of her?

Full Term!

I can't believe that as on Monday, baby girl is considered full term. It still would feel so wierd to have her this early, but it's comforting to know that if that happens, her lungs should be good to go. I had my last appointment on Monday. They offered to check me again if I wanted, so I said sure thinking perhaps I'd progressed from 1 cm the week before. Not so much. Still 1 cm & about 25% effaced. It kinda bummed me out, but I know that being dilated or not really means nothing at this point. My belly measured 37 cm at 37 weeks so I'd grown 2 cm in a week. The exam caused my back to hurt for a few hours that day along with 1, yes only 1, strong contraction. I go back for my next visit on Monday. If they offer to check me, I still may say yes. Kinda hoping it may get things moving along. I feel really lucky to not be uncomfortable at this point as opposed to having some seriously achy pelvic, hip & leg issues with Brady from about 8 months on. The only pains I've been happening are actually upper back pain. Strange, I know. It happens throughout the night & I think I'm just sleeping in a not-so-good position or something. It's not unbearable & I'm still sleeping fairly well, just getting up 2-3 times a night to go tinkle. I'm getting really excited to go into labor (wierd but true), experience childbirth again, and meet my daughter. It's neat that her birthdate, weight, length, eye color, hair color, features, everything will be a surprise. I packed up some toiletries for the hospital & have work stuff pretty squared away too (out-of-office written & ready to be activated and out-of-office voice mail ready to be activated too). Last night I sterilized the breast pump parts too. I am really looking forward to nursing again as it's one of the best things I've ever done for Brady. There's not much I can do now to keep him healthy other than regular dr's & dentist check-ups, but I gave him such a great start in life by nursing him for 12.5 months. It was a huge sacrifice, but I started off right (no bottles, no paci, etc) and followed my guy by not supplementing him with formula early on despite his slow weight gain, and I think it all paid off. I've posted pics below of me at 36 weeks 5 days from last Saturday. She's still growing & I'm enjoying the ever-blossoming belly. On a side note, we took Brady for his first dentist's appointment this morning. He definitely was scared since it was much like a doctor's office, but the dentist was great. She managed to brush, clean, and put a flouride treatment on his teeth. What a brave boy! He continues to be such a joy & I have no doubt he will be an exceptional big brother to baby girl. Oh, he's also decided that her name should be Charlotte! We had some families over to our house this past weekend including 5 girls ages 1-7 and one's name was Charlotte. Apparently he loves her name because he patted my tummy Sunday night multiple times & said that baby Charlotte was in there. He'svery insistent that she not be called anything but Charlotte. I think Charlotte Lin Davis has a nice ring to it, but we've decided to still wait and see how we feel about it when she's born.

Easter Fun & Baby Girl Happenings

We enjoyed a nice Easter weekend. I had a sore throat and earache Friday(never panned out to be anything, so I'm guessing it's due to the yellow haze of pollen outside), so I stayed home from work, but thanks to napping all day Friday & enjoying a nap Saturday while Rocky & Brady went to breakfast and the park, I felt well enough Saturday evening to meet up with my parents & John in Burlington for Thai food & a trip to Barnes & Noble. Sunday started off with Brady enjoying the goodies in his Easter basket- little bit of candy (including his favorite- M&M's- see pic below for a shot of his chocolate smeared face), Spiderman tattoos, Cars stickers, Spiderman book, Kung Fu Panda DVD, Sesame Street socks (he's sporting them in one of the pics- but since they'd been buried in the pack-n-play for so long, we soon discovered they are too small- baby sister will love them!) and a Disney watercolor book. Rocky had found the watercolor book the night before at B&N. Brady loves it! You put water in the marker and it "colors" the paper. But as the paper dries, the color goes away so you can draw on it again. Very cool! He'll be loving that one for a while. After basket time, I took Brady to Barnes & Noble where he read alot of books and then we went to McDonald's for lunch (his request) where he gobbled up his nuggets & apple dippers and then headed off to play in their play area. The one at Brier Creek has a really nice outdoor play area, complete with shaded tables for the parents to sit at. We then headed home for his nap time & that evening we had a nice dinner at Outback before heading to the park. What a fun weekend! The pics below are just a glimpse of how much he enjoyed it all.
It seems as if no blog post would be complete without an update on baby girl. I had my 36 week appointment yesterday. This included the swab for Group B Strep. Basically, if a mom tests positive, she is given antibiotics during labor to prevent transmission to the baby since GBS can make babies very, very sick. My belly measurements proved the fact that she had dropped which I already knew since I can breath better due to her no longer being lodged in my ribs. At 34 weeks I measured 36 cm and now at 36 weeks I'm only measuring 35 cm. I have never measured behind at all with either pregnancy, so this was proof that she had headed south. Since the doctor was already "down there" for the GBS swab, she checked my cervix & found that I am 1 cm dilated. I was dilated for 2 weeks before I had Brady, so it doesn't mean much, but it is 1 cm I don't have to dilate during labor. She instantly felt the head & said that it was nice & low. They won't check me again until I'm 39 weeks or if I think I'm in labor, but I'll still have weekly appointments from here on out to check my urine for sugar & protein, weigh-in (Oh Joy!), check my blood pressure (a nice 116/68 this week), measure my belly, and listen to her heartbeat. This is all becoming more real. Rocky has serious doubts that I'll make it until May. He's going to install the carseat bases this weekend. Other than that, most of the things I need to do are more for me than for her- haircut for Brady & me, oil change for my car, order breastpump parts, etc. I'm starting to wonder more & more what she'll look like- it's the daydream phase of pregnancy where my mind drifts off & I picture having a sweet baby girl in our house as we go from a family of 3 to a family of four. Even if I hold off having her until as late as I had Brady, that's only 5 weeks. Seems like 5 weeks ago was just here yesterday.